Calf put down after being hit by truck

NAPPAN - A female moose spent some time over the weekend and into Monday morning wandering around a field near Nash's Corner.

The cow was traveling with a calf at suppertime on Sunday when the latter was struck by a vehicle.

"The driver that struck the moose called in the accident," said Const. Angela Atkinson with the Cumberland District RCMP.

"The moose was struck and injured, and because of the extent of its injuries, we had to put it down."

Since then, the cow has been seen in the area by a number of people, including home-schooled students Sarah Grooms and Kodey MacKenzie.

"She was just walking back and forth from one side of the field to the other," she said, noting that the cow may have been looking for the calf.

"She was pretty quiet but looked like she was lost."

Grooms said the field looked completely fenced in and that the cow may have been searching for a way out.

For MacKenzie, it was his first time to ever spot a moose.

"It was a big moose for never having seen one before," he said.

The accident came through to the RCMP at 5:45 Sunday evening, said Const. Atkinson. She said the detachment received the call because there was more than $1,000 worth of damage done to the vehicle.

"It struck the front passenger side of the truck, which was a 1992 Ford F150. The headlight was knocked out and there was some fur stuck to the truck, but it was drivable," she said, adding the driver was not injured.

Representatives from the Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene and estimated the age of the calf at 18-months.

"So it was a bit bigger than a calf but smaller than an adult," Const. Atkinson said.